I'll Hold You in The Dark
by love at third sight
Summary: She couldn't explain what drew her to him like a moth to light. Maybe it was because of his Silver Soul. Gintoki/Tsukuyo
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**: There aren't a lot of stories that feature Tsukuyo with Gintoki. Which is a shame! She is unbelievably gorgeous, cool, and one of my favorite female characters in the Gintama!verse (other than Kagura and Ikumatsu, hahaha). Actually, I like her as a ninja a lot better than the majority of the characters in Naruto.

This is a serious twoshot for Gintama. Rated M for mature content. Takes place after the Jiraia arc.

* * *

><p><strong>I'll Hold You in The Dark<strong>

_"You have a pretty face... and a clean soul."_

~Gintoki**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Tsukuyo, for all intents and purposes a <em>bishoujo<em> - a beautiful woman despite the heavy scarring on her face. Some people, probably sober, would take one look at her magnificent beauty and wonder how she had ended up like that.

They wouldn't suspect that she had taken a kunai and sliced her pretty face as proof that she had given up on womanhood.

This wasn't exactly correct by all means; she still wore a kimono day to day and pinned her hair up like the usual courtesan, but she knew she'd given up on love the day she vowed to protect Hinowa, the sun of Yoshiwara. Silly dreams of saving her chastity for the one she'd marry were thrown away, ripped into shreds as she trained under her master, Jiraia.

Then there was Sakata Gintoki.

He wasn't like a lot of men who stumbled around the red light district; not the kind of man who lose their track of true happiness and in the process corrupt themselves by seeking pleasure in women and drink. He approached contentment quietly and absorbed it gently. He wasn't ambitious or sought out to do anything of true importance.

It still didn't explain how he was able to topple Hosen and kill her master, who Tsukuyo still feared even in death.

That night had been the best night and the worst night of her life. She still couldn't explain it as she got up this morning, dragged her body in front of her mirror and combed her hair.

_How many years has it been since I've enjoyed having a night to myself without worrying?_ she wondered as she pinned her hair up and slipped into her black kimono. _I can't possibly be so old that I can't remember such a carefree night_.

The truth was, she'd spent the majority of her life protecting the women of Yoshiwara. She often convinced the women who made up Hyakka that it was better to protect the ones you loved instead of engaging in prostitution, and it was mostly an astute statement made by those who made their living by selling their bodies. There were some drawbacks, true, but nothing beat the satisfaction of honest hard work at the end of the twelve-hour shift, where night turned to day.

Breakfast was an unusual affair. She had rose later than usual and had company for breakfast.

"Ara, Tsukuyo, you're awake," Hinowa said kindly as she ladled miso soup into a bowl for her. "I kept breakfast warm for you."

Guilt punctuated Tsukuyo's calm demeanor. "I'm sorry, Hinowa-san. I didn't mean to keep you up for so long."

"Don't worry about it!" Hinowa replied cheerfully. "I know you worked hard last night. So I'm giving you a day off."

Tsukuyo looked stricken. "No - that's not what I meant - "

"Hyakka can get by without you leading in charge for a day, can't it?" The former courtesan beseeched her fellow bodyguard with eyes that could stop the heart of any man. "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, or so they say."

Tsukuyo could not stop herself from smiling. "You have a knack of rhyming, Hinowa-san."

"That wasn't my idea, that permed-hair man stopped by to say goodbye and told me to tell you that. I wanted him to stay for a while..." She cast an eye in the sky with longing. "He was the best thing that ever happened to Yoshiwara."

_I wanted him to stay, too_, Tsukuyo added in her mind but did not say it out loud. After all, shinobi did not usually express their emotions, and while she often observed this was a rather unhealthy way to live it did not complicate matters out of her control.

They finished breakfast together, speaking of less important things and Tsukuyo, always a woman of action, headed out to the streets.

Hinowa warned her, "I'll know if you've been working, Tsukki-chan, make no mistake about that! I told everyone in the Hyakka faction that if anyone caught you working undercover, we won't let you smoke that pipe of yours anymore! I can't force you to stop working if you really want to, but I don't want you to get injured at this rate."

Tsukuyo glanced a bit guiltily at her pipe. It had been one of her vices to smoke in the evening, but it was mostly harmless. If she died from afflictions of the lung, so be it.

"All right, Hinowa-san, I won't work today, I promise."

So that was it, and she walked around the red light district aimlessly as she wondered what the point was of "taking the day off". She lived to work, she thought to herself, irritated. She didn't have many friends and didn't care much for wasting time, nor was she interested in casual sex or drinking (as she had a notoriously low tolerance for alcohol).

Maybe, she thought somberly, Yoshiwara wasn't exactly the right place for her when she had nothing to do.

A shadow flitted over the sidewalk, and she blinked in the hot sunshine as she spotted Gintoki himself in front of a pachinko parlor.

_I wonder why he stand out from the others_, she wondered as she blew smoke out of her ceramic pipe. It was slender yet it had been crafted lovingly by her father - the only possession that she took as a momento of her parents.

"Oi. If you're wondering where you can exchange pachinko balls for money, it's behind the counter of that shop."

"What does it matter," Gintoki grumbled. "I don't have enough money for the rent, much less betting it on pachinko - "

Then his eyes met hers and it seemed like her heart stopped a few seconds - " - Tsukuyo."

God, he was good looking.

"Then why are you here? I thought you usually spent time on the surface."

"I had to escape from my old landlady. She was pestering me, calling me Idiot Gin-san and all these names... Ah, so troublesome." He scowled. "How are things in Yoshiwara?"

"It's good. Hinowa-san has been taking good care of Seita-kun."

"Dull as ever, aren't you?"

"Sorry."

"If you were a JUMP heroine you'd be the snarky type."

"Glad to know it."

She didn't know he still read JUMP magazine. Well, that was the kind of person he was. He could be lazy as hell and good for nothing, but when it came down to it...

He was breathtaking.

The conversation was over. She moved aside to make room for him on the sidewalk when he said suddenly, "You're hiding something from me."

Tsukuyo blew smoke at him. "Who knows..." she said, and smiled, beautiful as the full moon and rarer than the lunar eclipse.

She didn't miss him staring at her back.

xxxxx

There used to be rumors in Yoshiwara about chivalry - some guy would buy a prostitute, but instead of using that hour to have sex with her, he'd buy her lunch and a room to sleep in.

Tsukuyo had never really put much thought into it, but she thought it was awfully romantic when she was fourteen. If there was one thing she could not stand, it was women who were treated like sex objects without any respect whatsoever. It was why she relished every kunai that made its way into that awful man's flesh - the scream of pain and anger was music to her ears.

Sometimes, she thought distastefully, men could be twisted into vile creatures when lead by their desires.

"Ne, Tsukky-chan," Hinowa said a few evenings later, when Tsukuyo found herself in a thoughtful mood. "What are you thinking about?"

"Mm... Just the path that I've chosen, that's all."

"Such deep thoughts for my younger sister. Are you thinking about someone special?"

Tsukuyo stared at Hinowa point-blank.

At this, Hinowa sighed. "Truly, I would think that the final goal for every woman who lives in this town is to love, and be loved in return."

"And what about you, Hinowa-san?"

"I don't need someone like that... I've got Seita. But you're not the kind of woman who would care for a child, Tsukky."

The kunoichi knocked some ash out of her pipe and held it close to her mouth. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe you should find someone you can truly care for. A man."

Tsukuyo blew smoke that curled up to the night sky. "As far as I'm concerned, Yoshiwara is a town made up of women. The only men here are customers. Caring for one so intimately would be a nuisance."

Hinowa's lips formed a smile that was gentle in nature. "I suppose you're right. You're so strong and pretty, it would have to take a man of strong caliber to win you over."

And her eyes held a secret twinkle as she called for someone to prove Tsukuyo wrong.

xxxxx

Someone had requested Tsukuyo to serve sake.

"Tell him that I'm too busy."

"He's not a customer who can be ignored, Boss. These are Hinowa's requests."

"The last time she did that to me I destroyed half a room," the kunoichi grumbled.

And lo and behold, Gintoki stood there, hand stuck nonchalantly in his yukata as she opened the door. His permed hair seem brighter and shinier than before. Or maybe she was seeing things.

"C'mon. Let's blow this joint."

"While I'm working?" she said incredulously. "Why don't you go look up the definition of fair in the dictionary, Gintoki?"

"Woman, you should know by now that Hinowa is _paying_ me to take you out."

"So you're not sincere."

"Oi, gimme a break, none of us are going to accomplish anything by standing here."

She sighed.

"Okay. Let's go."

xxxxx

He was a masochist, Tsukuyo thought as she clinked shot glasses with him, and she proceeded to tell him that.

The samurai grinned cheekily. "This isn't alcohol. Hinowa told me that this bar specializes in cocktails without the alcohol."

Tsukuyo swallowed the concoction, and a pleasant buzz ran through her body. "If that's not alcohol, then what is it?"

He shrugged. "Saa ne."

It was then that she noticed several things about him. First, his hair was really curly. Second, his eyes were a dark shade of red-brown that seemed to hold mysterious depths.

And finally, his gaze was only reserved for her.

xxxxx

The two of them had moved on to other crowded places after sharing a few drinks, including things that Tsukuyo pointed out that you absolutely had to try once you entered the Yoshiwara district, like the tea shop girls, or the dancers that had a doll-like quality to them. Neither did they miss the geisha that offered their services of companionship through the screen doors.

"You know, Gintoki, you overturned generations of imprisonment," Tsukuyo noted as she sipped the fragrant tea in a luxurious shop (her expense, since of course he naturally ran out of money at this point). "Kamui-sama has bestowed upon us salutary neglect. How did you do it?"

"He wants to fight me," he replied somberly. "When that time comes, I wouldn't expect to end out alive."

The former samurai peered into his cup and noticed his reflection.

And that was pretty much it - she didn't have an explanation for it, because she threw down a few paper bills, and grabbed his arm.

She pulled him into an alley where the moon illuminated their eyes.

"Tsukuyo... ?"

She couldn't _stand_ for him being so goddamned lonely.

The Courtesan of Death pressed her body against the White Demon, and kissed him.

It was a hard, quick kiss. Nothing romantic about it, but it wasn't meant to be; she didn't expect her feelings to be reciprocated.

"He'll kill you... over my dead body," she vowed quietly. "I'll swear to it."

xxxxx

"I was - what?" Hinowa asked as Tsukuyo confronted her in the kitchen. "One second."

She set a pot of steamed _gyoza_ on the table, and then said with satisfaction, "There. What did you say, Tsukky-chan?"

"Gintoki paid me a visit the other day."

Tsukuyo was closely watching her friend's expression. Hinowa gracefully lifted a curious eyebrow and asked, "What did he want to talk about?"

"Nothing really... He invited me out for drinks. Nothing special."

But Hinowa seemed absolutely delighted. "Drinks! What kind of man would invite a woman out for drinks if he didn't like her at all?"

"It doesn't matter. You forget the whole experience after drinking too much," Tsukuyo said, smoking her pipe.

"No, you end up having morning sex - "

" - That's definitely not what happened," Tsukuyo deadpanned, already frustrated this early in the morning.

"But something happened, right?"

"Nothing happened. I only wanted to know if you were responsible for him visiting me. Do you need me to take another break or what?"

Hinowa was very quiet. "I didn't call him, Tsukuyo."

"Okay."

xxxxx

"I don't have casual lovers," he told her straight upfront.

"But you don't have relationships," she assumed.

He nodded. "Unless it's with strawberry milk or the weather girl."

"So where does that put me?"

"A concubine."

She threw a shoe at him. "That sounds WORSE than saying you have casual lovers!"

He pushed her on the futon. "So what's it to you?"

Right. What did it matter to her? She was a liberated woman who could sleep with anybody.

The balcony was open, and her eyes followed to the moon - a full moon, a beautiful moon. A breeze fluttered in and she shivered involuntary.

Gintoki made to close the door, but she grabbed his arm. "No, don't do that..."

"But you're cold..."

She started undressing, and did not reply. She seemed unconscious of her own naked body, and when she was done, she started to undress him, too. He didn't protest.

"My, you're being awfully quiet," she teased him as his yukata was thrown on the floor in a neat pile next to the futon.

"Maybe it's because I got my head smashed into the floor after I accidentally groped your breasts," he replied good-naturedly. "I can't get too cautious now."

"That was in front of people. I don't mind now," she said, in the middle of unzipping his black shirt.

His physicality was beautiful. Her fingers traced a scar that was in the shape of a perfect circle on his well-defined chest. "Who did that to you... ?"

"Hosen."

She leaned to kiss him as her way of saying sorry, then was surprised as he pressed down on her with more force than she thought possible.

She smelled like soap. He surmised this as he started exploring her body as he took possession of her, playing with her tongue and stroking her. There was a sense of caution between them as they made love, yet there was also tenderness as he kissed her shoulder gently after they had both reached climax.

The last thing he saw before drifting into an easy sleep was that scar of hers and the moonlight that cast a mysterious light into her bright blue eyes.

xxxxx**  
><strong>

Somehow the two of them had gotten into an easy pattern of seeing each other and then after a few conversations they would sleep with each other.

Sometimes they didn't rest after having sex. Sometimes Gintoki would talk for a little while about his life - about Kagura, the cheeky little girl who had an insatiable appetite, or Shinpachi, who still hadn't managed to get a girlfriend after turning seventeen. She looked forward to those visits because those bits and pieces gave more color to her world.

He found out she was scrupulously clean and liked to shower after she was done on the night patrol. Gintoki found that she smelled very much like the Kabuki district. The perfume of the caberet girls, the fresh perspiration, and her own distinct smell mixed together to form her essence.

And then there were times where she would sleep on his shoulder, hand on his chest, her blond hair spilling in directions as if it was a liquid pool of sunshine -

- and he'd stay still for a minute or two, just enjoying her steady rhythm of her breathing.

It seemed to be an unwritten rule that the first one who got up would leave. Many times she had woken up, and there seemed to be no trace that the Shiroyasha had been there last night.

He was hard to figure out. Sometimes he got mad whenever she accidentally stepped on his collection of JUMP - and then she would get mad too, because she didn't even know why there was a collection of JUMP in her room in the first place.

Slowly but surely, he was edging into her life.

And it felt... strange. Was this what you called a relationship? She liked the sex and kissing and foreplay well enough - but was that really the only thing that defined them? Physical gratification?

"Ne, Gintoki," she asked on a lazy Sunday afternoon while smoking her pipe.

"What?" He was re-reading the week's edition of Shonen Jump, because that was how it was on a Sunday afternoon. They would take a bath, then have sex, and then maybe talk for awhile before he left to do whatever he did in the Yorozuya.

"What are we doing?"

"Well, you're smoking and I'm reading Jump," he deadpanned. "Isn't that what we're doing?"

"No, that's not what I meant. _What_ are we doing?"

Now he looked at her curiously. "I'm not going to marry you if that's what you're asking."

She chuckled. "No, I didn't mean that," she replied lightly. "I just... need to know what you think about us."

He rolled his eyes and went back to reading his magazine.

Tsukuyo was disappointed.

Were all men like this once a woman gave up her body? She felt as if she had been cheated.

"I'll see you later," she said. After all, she still had a job to do.

She wished later that he had said something back. But she realized that he wasn't the sort of person to do so.

xxxxx

A few months had gone by effortlessly as she got more and more used to his company. As soon as it had started, it broke down for some unfathomable reason.

"Have you ever been to the surface?" he asked her as she rested next to him.

"No... this town is good enough for me," she said absentmindedly. "Why?"

"I think... I might have to stop seeing you."

She was hurt, and the immediate pain stole her ability to breathe.

"It's not because I don't..." He tried again and picked his words carefully. "I don't think I can do this anymore."

"Gintoki, what's going on?"

He was torn between duty and the only woman who had loved him for what he was.

"Nothing's wrong."

"Something is going on if you can't tell me what it is," she said angrily. "You can't just have sex with me and then end things like that. At least not without me sticking you with a lot of kunai before you leave Yoshiwara."

He looked out of the window into the perfect sunrise without a single cloud to mar its beauty. It was very quiet, and little activity took place in Yoshiwara at this time of day.

"... Gintoki?" she tentatively asked him.

He didn't answer her for a long time, seemingly interested in a songbird that had set foot on the branch of the tree that grew under the rooftop.

"Hey. Between me and Hinowa, who would you choose?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer the question."

"Well... I would choose to have you both," she said firmly.

His eyes were curiously distant. "If that's your answer, than I'll have to leave."

"Gintoki!"

He got dressed and slid the door open. She ran after him in tears. "If you're leaving me, don't you dare think about stepping one foot into Yoshiwara! Don't ever come back!"

"Didn't I tell you?" he only replied insolently. "I don't _do_ relationships."

Tsukuyo slammed the door, and when she made sure he was gone, only then did she crumple into a ball, letting no one hear her sobs.

xxxxx  
>xxx<br>x

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So here concludes Part One. Please drop off a review; it would mean a lot to me.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Andddd here's Part Two. Enjoy. Very heavy influences from the movie The Dark Knight; you have been warned.  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>I'll Hold You in The Dark<strong>

_"Leave; I want to think of you as an equal. Stop shaking up my feelings..."_

~ Tsukuyo**  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Tsukuyo found the seediest bar in town, started drinking, and instead of breaking into a violent rage, she cried.<p>

The bartender was surprised to see such a beautiful woman so upset.

"Miss, I don't know what's wrong, but tomorrow's a new day," he said consolingly as he wiped his glasses clean.

"I was a fool!" she said, hiccuping. "More," she added, gesturing to her sake.

"Of course," he said, and poured her another drink.

"It wasn't even a relationship," she said despairingly. "I just went along because I thought - I seriously thought there was something more than sex."

She couldn't blame Gintoki even if she wanted to. He had laid the boundaries, and she was stupid to ignore them in the first place.

"So. This is the woman that captured Danna's heart, is it?"

A man dressed in a black Chinese robes, perpetually smiling, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Kamui - !"

That was all she remembered, because she had blacked out at that point. A sharp fist indicated that the fault laid not in her drinking but of a more dangerous reason.

"Not a word," the Yato warned, pointing a pistol at the bartender. "Or I'll burn this fine establishment down."

xxxxx**  
><strong>

He'd gotten his orders from Takasugi himself. _Destroy Yoshiwara._

It was part of Harusame's jurisdiction. As both of them had escaped from the criminal organization, Takasugi knew that they would not be happy when Yoshiwara ceased to operate as a backdrop for its illegal activities.

But Kamui was a little nettled that Takasugi was so confident that he would be able to treat him like a servant. Servant? He scoffed to himself. The only reason why he was following Takasugi in the first place was because the terrorist seemed to attract strong people like moths to light. That, and the former samurai saved him from being shot in front of General Asshole - ahem, Abo.

So why not have a little bit of fun while destroying something?

Especially that fight with Sakata Gintoki. He was looking forward to it. That man was the only reason why he still let Yoshiwara stay as it was. A city dedicated to women and drink was worthless in his opinion, and he had no intention of keeping his master's downfall to anyone who had remembered him as the King as the Night.

He examined the woman that slept peacefully against the wall. So even _that_ man had fallen for this woman?

True, she was quite beautiful - with the exception of the long scar that ran on the right side of face - and out of all the women of Hyakka, he guessed she was in charge of the law.

I won't be killing her anytime soon, he thought cynically.

He tied her up expertly with the finesse of an expert magician, and then straightened up. One thing down, two left to go.

Hinowa had been more tricky - not only did he have to kill more than a few Hyakka soldiers guarding them, but he also had to ensure that no one would be able to find out their dead bodies before it was too late. He smirked. Now surely their disappearance would provoke an emergency in Yoshiwara, and who better to call help from the savior of Yoshiwara himself?

Kamui smirked and headed out of the room, making sure to lock it before someone woke up and found things horribly wrong.

xxxxx

The dark moonlight seemed menacing to Kagura as she looked out of the window. Ever since she was the child, she had always preferred the sun; it was probably why Earth had appealed to her than traveling to other planets in the cosmos.

Gintoki had not come home. And truth be told, she was getting a little worried.

His odd disappearances were becoming normal, and at first Kagura and Shinpachi had questioned the samurai on where he went. He would brush off their questions, but he always seemed to hold a simple happiness to him.

Kagura had figured it out rather quickly and to everyone's surprise, _logically_. If he smelled like a woman then it should have been obvious he was seeing a woman, right? But Shinpachi figured otherwise - he thought Gintoki wasn't the kind of person who would be tied down to a woman. Perhaps he was doing some Yorozuya work with different women, not necessarily (he was blushing at this point) sleeping with one.

Kagura snorted inwardly at this. Shinpachi was too naive for his own good.

"Where do you think he is?" the teenager asked the Yato again for the billionth time. "It's nearly 2am."

She shrugged, but inside she was nervous. The last time they waited up for Gintoki, somebody had carried his comatose body to the nearest hospital, the blood flowing from his chest like a flooded well.

"Maybe we should look for him."

Finally, that worthless _megane_ had a decent idea. But where would they start?

"Yoshiwara," Shinpachi said in response to her inquiries. "I found Tsukuyo's pipe on his desk. I guess we should start there and make inquiries."

And the girl nodded. "Let's go there, then."

xxxxx

The elders of the Harusame Space Pirates were holding a conference hundreds of feet deep below the glittering city. This way, there was no chance of being overheard.

Kamui stifled his indifference as he killed the remaining guards on duty. Who were they kidding? He kicked their bodies into the deep abyss and made his way to the elevator. Now he could overhear some of their conversation as he strode towards the hallway to which they were clustered like a bunch of bees.

"We can't take another chance allying ourselves to Takasugi - " one was saying to the council. "He's killed too many of our men."

"I suppose you could say that, considering Kada ran off with the elite corps!"

A raucous laugh followed to which Kamui scowled in displeasure. He kicked down the door and said, "Fool me once; shame on you - "

His hand stabbed cleanly in another Yato's chest cavity, drenching his hand in scarlet blood.

"Fool me twice; shame on me," he finished with a glint of malicious glee as he faced the Harusame elders.

The room went deadly silent.

"K-Kamui," General Abo stuttered. "I d-didn't know - "

"Quiet, little man," Kamui said calmly. "I have a proposition for the council regarding Takasugi."

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't kill you this very instant," another said angrily, standing up. "You betrayed the Harusame! You have no business interfering in our meetings, you little fucker!"

Now Kamui opened his sharp blue eyes and stopped smiling. That was not a good sign.

"Sit," the leader of the group commanded. "I want to hear his proposition."

His fingers formed a spider web, and Kamui watched in fascination. The other man sat down, albeit grudgingly.

"You know, the cops and lawyers wouldn't have _touched_ Yoshiwara a year ago," Kamui said conversationally. "What happened? Did you guys lose jurisdiction over it?"

There was a very tense pause as Kamui looked upon them with an expression of disdain. Satisfied, he continued.

"I suppose Lord Hosen would have locked up every wench, every prostitute, and every whore to ensure that none of your precious secrets would have escaped. Unfortunately, now that he has gone, a bunch of _vermin_ have arrived to take his place..."

"So what do you propose to do?"

"It's simple," Kamui said. "Burn Yoshiwara down. Every inhabitant."

This idea was greeted with a shocked silence. Then, _laughter_; mocking, hateful, _laughter_ poured out from every mouth, and Kamui wanted to kill each and every one of them. But he didn't, because his master had taught him self-control, and this was not the time to let loose on his love of bloodshed.

When the laughter subsided, the leader asked, "If it's so simple, why haven't you done it yet?"

Now Kamui was the one who laughed. "If you're good at something, never do it for free."

"No," the leader decided. "I wouldn't kill an entire city of wretched women over my desire to protect Harusame."

"I don't think you have a choice either way," Kamui said, fangs glinting in the dim light. And quick as a lightning bolt he shot the opposing man in the chest.

**-x-**

Tsukuyo woke up in an all-too familiar position. She was strung up and she couldn't move. The taste of alcohol was sour in her mouth, and she blinked twice.

"Ah, so you're awake."

At the sound of his voice, she recoiled. "Fuck you."

He paused. "I believe you're not in any position to say that."

"What the hell did you do to me?"

"There, there," Kamui said consolingly, and strapped a strange looking device to her waist. "It'll be over soon..."

She studied the man with a detached sense of curiosity. As long as Hinowa was at home - _Shit!_ She left the crippled woman alone!

"... I suppose your friends will be over soon too..."

"What have you done with her?" her low and terrible voice hissed.

"So you've figured it out," Kamui said, eyes closed and smiling psychotically. "I'm glad. I hate explaining things over and over again."

"What have you _done_ with her?" she repeated, her voice flung against the wall and arms struggling to free herself. Useless. That freak continued to smile like a demented puppet.

_Calm down, Tsukuyo_, she thought. _This is a psychological game he is playing with you. You cannot let him win_.

Otherwise, the consequences were too serious for her to bear thinking about.

"Oh, I just tied them up for a bit," he said nonchalantly.

"And then... ?" she said, voice nearly cracking from her dread. The bile rising up from her throat was almost sickening, like a poison that threatened to snuff her out.

"Your _friends_ have an hour to choose. After that - " and at this his grin widened considerably, " - boom! Gone. Like the wind." He giggled like a maniac, and pressed the button on a device.

"Tsu-Tsukuyo? Are y-you there?" Unbiddenly, Hinowa's voice was there, hoarse and considerably weaker than the last time she had heard her.

"Hinowa!" Tsukuyo yelled, no longer caring that Kamui was still in the same room as she was. "Hinowa, can you hear me?"

"Yes! Yes, oh thank God," and Tsukuyo could hear sobs on the other end. "L-listen, we - we don't have much time. He said - he said that Gintoki had to rescue us - but only one of us."

As soon as the kunoichi heard this, her stomach dropped to a million miles away.

_"Hey. Between me and Hinowa, who would you choose?"_

The memory of him speaking those words were enough to turn her feelings of rejection into helplessness. He knew. He knew that this would have happened. He had a good reason.

Why oh _why_ had she ever told him to step away from Yoshiwara?

"Tsukuyo? Talk to me, say anything."

"He'll pick you," Tsukuyo said quietly. And despite that, a tear dropped from cheek, making a tiny shadow on the ground before it mysteriously disappeared.

_I don't want to die. I don't want Hinowa to die, either. So who wins? Me, or her?  
><em>

"I - no, don't think about that. He has friends."

"Friends who can take down a cold-hearted Yato?" Tsukuyo asked in a quavery voice, and another tear fell down. "He got past all of the Hyakka that protected you on my orders."

The other end of the line was silent.

And another tear was shed as Tsukuyo was forced to deal with the facts. They were as good as dead.

xxxxx

Katsura had tipped him off - _Kamui is hunting you down. Be on your guard._

How the Joui faction leader seemed to know Takasugi's move was beyond Gintoki's understanding. However, he was grateful, and he was quietly hidden as he saw Kamui knock his beloved out and stow her away in a secret compartment located beneath the former airship port.

Goddamn it, he didn't break up with her to let her get into trouble! He just wanted her to be safe, not bait!

"_Danna_, I don't think he'll show up anytime soon," Okita drawled, bazooka at his side. "Not a monster like him, anyways."

"So says the sadist," Gintoki replied dryly as he squinted into a pair of Shinsengumi binoculars.

"I'm nowhere his level," Okita retorted. "He's truly a monster. I kill because it's my job. _He_ kills because he feels pleasure for each and every one of them."

"How would you know?"

"Kagura told me some things."

"Uh-huh."

"Are you still using that wooden sword of yours?"

"Uh-huh."

"Then take my sword."

"..."

"I don't exactly want you to die."

"So you're saying you'll miss me?"

"Go drop yourself from a cliff," the teenager said. "From now to the end, you're on your own. The Bakufu says this area is off-limits. As much as I respect you, I'm not risking my job on the line for you."

"Uh-huh."

"And most importantly, _don't die_."

"Wasn't planning on it."

Sougo walked off, clearly miffed from his lack of response. Gintoki sighed. As soon as Kamui got out, he would tell Tsukuyo to get out of here. There was absolutely no reason to endanger her more than she was already.

"Good luck, Danna," he muttered under his breath.

xxxxx

When Kagura had received that particular text message, she scowled to see that it had came from her arch-nemesis, the one and only Okita Sougo.

The only thing she hated more than him was being _indebted_ to him, for Christ's sake.

Fortunately, Shinpachi had received a similar message and they soon spotted Gintoki doing serveillance work.

"You guys should go home," Gintoki said sternly, but they knew better than that. "This isn't a place for kids."

"Gin-chan, I heard that my brother was here," Kagura said, eyes wide and open. "Is... Is that true?"

"Is that what Sadist told you?"

"Yes."

He went back to his binoculars.

"Gin-chan, if he's really here - I want to fight him."

"No." That was his final answer.

"But it's my responsibility as his sister to not harm anybody."

"He's beyond the point of no return."

"But, Gin-chan! You can't defeat him without a Yato's help."

"I don't want you to kill your own brother."

"You can't possibly mean - " Kagura started.

" - to kill Kamui-san?" Shinpachi finished for her. "Gintoki... you can't do it. Not without Kagura."

"This was _my_ problem," the permed-hair samurai said stubbornly. "It's doesn't have to do with you two. Now go on, get lost."

He wasn't joking, and they were startled to see him this way, suddenly dark and looking very dangerous.

"Gin-san - "

"Leave now, before I beat it into you," he said, voice lower than they had ever recalled hearing. Both of them took a step back, then ran.

xxxxx

"What's with you, Kamui?" the leader of the council asked calmly behind a sheet of Plexiglass. "What's your point?" They were almost shrouded in darkness. The room they had locked him in had previously served as a torture room designed to extricate information from even the toughest prostitute. Old bloodstains made an unsavory pattern on the walls, and even Kamui had to admit that it was not a room he would have enjoyed passing his time in.

Kamui had been forced into a straitjacket, and to the Harusame's credit it left him unable to move for the moment. Although Kamui was strong he had underestimated the presence of powerful Yato who were content to serve as soldiers to the elders.

"I want to meet the _Shiroyasha_. If he doesn't come in an hour, I'll have to blow up one block of the city at a time."

"Summon him!" the leader commanded, and a subordinate hurriedly made his way to the escalator. A few minutes later - or it could have been twenty - the elder came back.

"All right, you've gotten what you've wished for. What now?"

Kamui chuckled.

Then the light snapped on and Gintoki slammed his head into the steel table.

A rivulet of blood slowly trickled down his forehead, but still Kamui kept smiling, his eyes closed.

"_Where are they_?" the samurai asked him, his voice growling as his eyes flashed red. The murderous aura that had emnated from Gintoki was beyond frightening to the average spectator.

"I thought'd you come," Kamui said happily.

"You wanted me. Here I am."

"I wanted to see what'd you do. And you didn't disappoint. You let down three people tonight."

Gintoki's fist pummeled Kamui's jaw, and for once in his life he'd never been more satisfied as the back of the alien's skull made a dull crunching noise against the pavement.

Yet the infuriating son of a bitch continued to speak as if Gintoki hadn't inflicted serious injuries to his body. "Those mobsters want you gone - they want it back to the things were. But I know the truth. There's no going back."

"You son of a - "

"That woman of yours was a real beauty. But you know, pretty is as pretty does. She's nothing but a whore."

"_Where is she_?" Gintoki roared as he flipped Kamui into the glass and smashed his head, cracking the window.

"Killing me won't get you anywhere - "

"_WHERE IS SHE_?"

A psychotic laugh bubbled out of that traitor's mouth, mixing with his heavy pants from the pain inflicted onto his body. "You have nothing, _nothing_ to hold against me - I hold all the cards. All of them - "

"I'm considering breaking my promise to your sister," Gintoki said, holding the alien by the collar.

"What promise? She's good as dead to me."

Gintoki said nothing in response to this except to fling him into the window again.

The window smashed into a million pieces, the shards piercing Kamui's skin. Yet the Yato seemed unable to comprehend the pain he was put through, and Gintoki could not help marveling at this broken, seemingly infallible hell of a monster.

For a few seconds, neither of them said anything. Then Gintoki said - "If you don't tell me where they are, then I swear to God I'll let you kill me as fast as you can, so help me."

Kamui glared at him for this.

Even a Yato knows when something's not worth his time.

xxxxx

Tsukuyo hung from the ceiling, slowly driven insane by the slow patter of the raindrops trickling in from a crack.

She tried to close her eyes, tried to think the most pleasant thoughts before she faced the unevitable.

But it was impossible. All she had were her regrets - how she'd never told Gintoki how much he meant to her, how she never told Hinowa that she had always looked up to her as an older sister, how she wanted to throw a huge party for the Hyakka for once when they weren't needed to enforce the law in Yoshiwara...

It left her with a huge sense of loss, as if she hadn't learned her lesson.

_I've failed you, sensei_, she thought. _There's nothing I can do to fix what I've done_.

Hinowa had stopped talking; Tsukuyo could hear her quiet breathing through the intercom.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Tsukuyo glared at the ceiling even though it was dark and impossible to make out the crack in the wall. There was something to be said for Chinese water torture.

Then she shuddered. At least it wasn't dripping on her head.

"Hinowa?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"Oh Tsukuyo..."

"Before this bomb blows up, I have to say I've never regretted a single minute protecting you."

"Tsukky-chan..."

"And that I apologize if I ever worried you. I'm sorry. I only loved you..."

"I know."

"This is all my fault."

"How?"

"I slept with Gintoki, Hinowa. I couldn't resist the temptation. I did it again and again so many times..."

"Kamui has nothing to do with you, Tsukuyo... Nothing to do with me, either. It's not your fault."

"But - "

"Listen, Tsukuyo. I'm really glad you did what you wanted to. Wouldn't you regret it if you didn't have a chance to be so intimate with a man you loved before dying?"

At this Tsukuyo's chest tightened. She didn't even know if she _loved_ him, per se...

He had a knack of shaking up her feelings. More than that, whenever he was near her, he held a mysterious power over her, like he had the ability to shield her from harm...

And she desired him as a man desires a woman.

But he and she still had masks on; masks that prevented them from talking honestly and deeply. She supposed this was why he couldn't have provided with a decent explanation as to why he left her.

_I'm sorry, Gintoki_. _Forgive me, I never meant for either of us to end up in pain._

Maybe if her parents hadn't sold her to Yoshiwara, she could have married an ordinary man and they would have never ended up in this situation...

_But I didn't **want** an ordinary man_, she protested inwardly. _I didn't want to be an ordinary woman, to simpy die out unforgotten and without **him**. I wanted only him, him, him. Only him_.

Him: Sakata Gintoki, samurai, the Shiroyasha.

But more importantly, the man who would push her out of the way when someone was out to slash her throat.

The man who would let her beat him around when she got unintentionally drunk.

The man who would indulge her once in a while and listen to her complaints whether it was hunting down goddamn drug dealers or recruiting new members while he was reading Jump.

The man who couldn't stand for her submission to her master, and stabbed Jiraia's hand as soon as he caught wind that she was strung up in Shishou's web.

The man who saved Yoshiwara, and essentially, Tsukuyo herself.

"...Gintoki?"

Her mouth was dry, eyes almost screwed up from the lack of light.

Yes, it _was_ him. As soon as she had seen this she was filled with a powerful sense of relief - and despair.

"No... no... save Hinowa - " she stammered out, not quite believing it at first.

"I can't do anything for her," he said quietly, not quite meeting her eyes. And he slashed the rope that bound her. "I don't know where she is, or how anyone is going to find her."

She struggled to get to her legs; at the last moment, she stumbled. Gintoki silently leaned into her, and her chin met the crook of his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he said into her hair.

"No, Gin. I'm the one who should be sorry. I'm always relying on you - and I'm so w-weak - "

The smell of him nearly brought her to her knees. That warmth, that solidness...

"I underestimated you. Can you forgive me?"

"Of course," she breathes into his neck. In that moment she could have forgiven his deepest transgressions, his bloodiest sins, just because he was _there_ at that moment - because she truly _loved_ him. She regretted that it had taken her so long to realize that.

But did that mean she favored her life over protecting Hinowa's?

If she answered "Yes", Hinowa was going to die eventually. Someone would make the connection between her and Gintoki, and they would inevitably exploit her weakness.

Gintoki's hand in hers was warm, and they walked silently into the cool air. The night illuminated the city, and it seemed so electric to her then; the bright neon lights, the crowds of well-dressed women lasciviously beckoning patrons, the smells and sights and the noises mixed together to form a unique blend of everything that made Yoshiwara special.

A sob escaped her mouth, and Tsukuyo - who hadn't shed a tear until Gintoki entered the forbidden city - cried.

She cried because Hinowa wasn't here standing next to her. Because Hinowa wasn't looking at the same electric pulse that ran through her kingdom. Because she needed Hinowa to reflect herself to the people who mattered, as the sun gives light to the moon.

Memories flashed her by, and she mechanically walked. Hinowa, the sun to her moon. Hinowa, someone so pure and precious and so uncorrupted it almost made one look away - because she was the sun and the light and the pride of Yoshiwara - the good, the beautiful, the _brave_ -

Tsukuyo collapsed, her knees a dead weight on the ground. She never regretted Gintoki picking her...

xxxxx

Hinowa had been waiting patiently as she knew that she was near death. She, unlike Tsukuyo, believed that her fate was unchangeable and therefore it wouldn't be wise to dwell on past mistakes.

No, she had lived to the extent that she could have done. While it was not easy to await the end of your life, she realized that the people who made her life the way it was were more important then whether she lived or died. Her son, her fellow courtesans, her lovers...

They would remember her.

xxxxx

"You should get out of here," he said quietly while they were back in her room. She was preparing for combat, selecting her favorite weapons and laced on her heeled boots.

Tsukuyo shook her head. "I have an obligation to protect Yoshiwara. Hinowa-sama would not have approved of me leaving this town, especially when Kamui is here. He killed countless of my comrades."

"Which would be more reason for you to leave."

"Gin... do you remember the vow I made to you some time ago?" she asked, wrapping a bandage around her arm as makeshift armor.

He looked away. Of course he did. He didn't know any other woman who promised to protect him until she was dead.

"Gin, I meant every word I said. I don't make a promise I can't keep."

"Why would you do that for me?"

Tsukuyo had to stop what she was doing. "I don't know. Maybe it's because I love you."

The confession was serious. And it was true. Which was why it seemed to suck in so much of her energy.

A pained silence followed this, and Tsukuyo dared not breathe or move for one second to look at his face.

"You love me?"

"... Of course I do," Tsukuyo said quietly, her voice not more than a whisper. "Don't - don't say anything. Okay?"

She didn't want to be a burden to him anymore. It's just too exhausting. She doesn't want him to care anymore - and she doesn't want to risk anybody precious to her again just because of her feelings for one man. One man - who had the opportunity to save or destroy her life with one finger.

Tsukuyo stands up and she doesn't look at Gintoki when she's finished preparing. "Let's go and find Kamui."

"Aa."

xxxxx

"She's here. I think." Kagura said as Sadaharu stopped at a random pattern of metal tiles.

Shinpachi pushed his glasses higher on his nose bridge. "I don't see anything."

"That's 'cause you're an idiot," Kagura said, and punched the tiles so that it broke. "C'mon Sadaharu."

The giant dog hopped inside the tunnel, and Shinpachi scowled. "... Just becuase you're a Yato..."

"Means I am automatically more awesome than you, silly," Kagura finished. Both of them are running, because the dog knew there was someone in trouble that they could save. And in the end, that's their job - saving anybody who wanted to be saved, destroying those who took away people's dreams. They're not going to stop doing it, even if a silver-headed samurai says they ought to really disband and end this ridiculous prospect of being a jack-of-all-trades.

The tunnel got progressively darker, and Shinpachi turned his flashlight. "Kagura, this place gives me the creeps." Blood stains made ominous shapes on the floor, and there was a weird atmosphere creeping up, like he was anticipating a crazed axeman behind him anytime soon.

Kagura scoffed. "Wimp. You have your sword, right?"

"Yep." But even people who were prepared could still find themselves dead, Shinpachi reminded himself.

Then Sadaharu barked and the two got into a defensive fighting position. "See anything?"

"... Nope," Kagura concluded, and relaxed. "False alarm."

Yet Sadaharu refused to acknowledge that nothing was there. He didn't move.

"Is someone there?" a voice called out, weak and raspy. "Oh please! Help me - help me - "

Kagura made to walk towards the victim, but Shinpachi held on to her arm. "Wait. This could be a trap."

"Please. You humans are so weak," Kagura retorted fiercely in the lowest whisper she could muster. "I can take a bullet. You and Sadaharu can't. Give me the flashlight."

"What - no! Let's just go there together."

"You're forgetting Sadaharu doesn't want to move, dumbass - "

They argued for a few more minutes before Kagura finally said they ought to duel for it.

_"Jan Kan Pon!"_

Kagura won. Shinpachi reluctantly handed the flashlight, which Kagura snatched up in glee.

She returned a few minutes later with a woman over her shoulder. "See, was that so hard, Shinpachi?"

xxxxx

"_Okaa-san_!" Seita wailed as the dynamic duo walked to the sex toy shop. "What happened to her?"

"Dunno," Kagura said, and picked her nose. "Make me some rice," she said to a nearby worker, which scurried off to do her bidding. "How come you didn't see her leaving this place, anyway? She wasn't even in her wheelchair, and in such a weird place too... "

"I don't know what happened - "

_BAM!_ There was a moment of sudden impact, and then a body smashed through the door, unhinging the mechanism entirely and breaking through the wooden floor. A cloud of dust rose, making everybody's eyes water as they coughed.

"OH MY GOD!" Seiwa shouted, his voice in obvious states of panic. "Tsukuyo, are you okay?"

The blonde woman did not respond at first; her breathing was ragged and she was bleeding from several places.

"... He's back. Kamui's... going to..."

She coughed out blood. Seiwa hurriedly fished in his pocket for a hankerchief, fretting over her disarray and wiping her hands clean.

"Kamui is going to destroy... Yoshiwara..."

Tsukuyo coughed again, and the blood seeped through the white fabric. The kunoichi pressed one hand against her stomach and gritted her teeth. She had one statement left to say, and it was the last thing she would do before dying peacefully in front of Hinowa. She needed to do it. It was an absolute must. She sucked in her breath, the pain dizzying. But she must do it.

_Because she loved him._

"...Gintoki is fighting him... _Save him_. Please... save... _him_!"

xxxxx  
>xxx<br>x

* * *

><p><strong>an: So after I realized how long this thing was going to be, I decided it will be in three portions.**

**Please review and tell me what you think of it.  
><strong>


End file.
